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Football moves ahead with new defensive coordinator

The UW-River Falls Falcon football team has hired a new defensive coordinator. The hiring is a result of the former defensive coordinator Greg Bower leaving UWRF for an assistant coaching job at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Many view sports as a personification of competition. While that much is true, the aspects of coaching directly influences the players on the field, and even the strategies that they rely on.

Even the pure execution of plays can be pinned on the coaches of a team. All of this has Ebner excited to be a part of the Falcons’ football team.

“I hope to bring a lot of enthusiasm and discipline to the team, but really I just want the guys to have fun. Get out there and play ball. We’ll be aggressive on defense,” Ebner said.

Ebner also feels that Head Coach Matt Walker has the team moving in the right direction, along with a great staff of coaches that will help propel the team forward.

Ebner was previously an assistant coach at UW-Eau Claire. During his tenure at UW-Eau Claire, Ebner spent one year as an assistant offensive line coach and two years as a the team’s defensive line coach.

Ebner also coached at John Apangalook (Alaska) Memorial High School for the 2010-2011 school year for the school’s basketball and wrestling teams.

While a new face with new strategies is a great start for an aspiring coach, none of that really matters unless the players of the team back the new defensive coordinator in his efforts to coach his new players.

Ebner also has to meet the expectations that players and fans have to truly win them over for the start of a new season.

The Falcon football team’s safety Alex Adams is one of those players that will be on the field next season.

Adams will be a senior on the team next year coming off a season where he was tied for first in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) for most interceptions with seven and earned honorable mention honors in the WIAC.

Adams has not had the chance to work with Ebner yet, since the season will not start until after the summer, but he does have high expectations for how next season will unfold compared to last season, especially in the WIAC.

“At times, we are the greatest defense in the WIAC, and I’m sure others would say the same thing. But if you come out and play like that every down and bring the same kind of passion and intensity, we’ll be just fine,” Adams said.

Adams would also like to see more consistency out of the defense compared to last season. Adams plans to rally around Ebner to help make that happen.

Ebner will be taking over a defense that had the second most sacks in the WIAC last season, was ranked fifth against the run, and fifth overall in the conference.

During the 2012-2013 school year season, the Falcons finished with a 2-8, overall record and 2-5 in the WIAC.

The Falcons’ sixth place record in the WIAC was the team’s best ranking since the 2008 season. Ebner and his new players look to keep building on that success from last season.

The Student Voice is the student-run newspaper of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. It is published weekly during fall and spring semesters. Contact us at info@uwrfvoice.com or Student Voice, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, 410 S. Third St., 304 North Hall, River Falls, WI 54022.